


Prompts from Tumblr

by OnstageSport



Category: The Book of Mormon - Ambiguous Fandom, The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, proposal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 12:23:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5743726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnstageSport/pseuds/OnstageSport
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of miscellaneous short stories fulfilling tumblr prompts</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Things You Said When We Were the Happiest We Ever Were

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Connor makes a realization

The pair of Elders shared everything with each other, were often inseparable (much to the displeasure of Connor’s mission companion and the great joy of Arnold because now he has 3 friends who aren’t allowed to leave him), and more than anything else, they were comfortable. They frequently cuddled on one of their beds, Kevin stroking Connor’s hair in calm silence. It was during one of these sessions when Connor suddenly stiffened in bemusement.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Kevin asked, leaning around to look at Connor’s face.

“Nothing,” Connor told him with a relieved smile. “ _Nothing_ is wrong.” And for once, for perhaps the first time since he was in fifth grade, nothing _was_ wrong and Connor McKinley was _happy_.


	2. Things You Said Through Your Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kevin is unnecessarily jealous

While cuddling in Connor’s room, Kevin noticed a recently opened letter on the bedside table. Under ordinary circumstances, he would not have taken any interest in Connor’s correspondences since he could have as many friends as he liked, but the return address was facing him in bold letters. Upon reading it, Kevin felt his stomach twist into a knot that he would never claim was caused by jealousy.  

“So…you’re writing to Steve Blade?” he asked, trying to prevent Connor from sensing how possessive it made him feel. He had been under the impression that the last interaction between the pair had been about eight years ago.  

Confused as to where the question had come from, Connor looked over to see the envelope still sitting on the table. 

“Oh, that’s nothing,” he assured with a shake of his head, nuzzling back up to Kevin’s chest, thinking that would be the end of the conversation. However, Kevin did not think it was the end. 

“What did he want?” Kevin continued, his teeth clenching tightly together after the final syllable escaped his lips.  

Connor shrugged. “Just to catch up, I guess,” he said. A sudden thought illuminated his eyes. “Oh, is somebody jealous?” He teased.  

“What? Pfft, no, of course not,” Kevin protested, looking away from both Connor and the offensive letter. “Should I be?”  

Connor let out a small laugh as he shook his head and reached over to grab the letter. 

“You can read it if you want,” he offered and as soon as he uttered it, the letter was snatched out of his hand. Kevin perused the letter, searching for any hints of romantic intention hidden in the ink. When he couldn’t find anything, he read it again. And once more just to be sure he hadn’t missed anything. 

“I guess he’s ok,” he finally conceded in a grumble. 

“And?” Connor prompted. But Kevin was resolute. He was clearly not jealous of Steve and Connor’s history and would not admit to something that was completely falsified. Connor repeated the syllable, inching closer to his face, preparing to kiss him. 

Kevin let out a sigh both of relief that the relationship between Connor and Steve Blade was nothing more than platonic and of exasperation that Connor was needling him about it. 

“And I was being dumb,” he grumbled low enough that Connor could barely hear it so it did not count as a confession of jealousy.


	3. Things You Said When You Thought I Was Asleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Connor rehearses an important question

When their two years in Uganda were finished, few things remained with Kevin Price and Connor McKinley: apart from their relationship, still going strong, the only true constant was Arnold Cunningham’s daily message to them about one thing or another. After arriving back in the States, the Elders had moved in together under the guise of ‘roommates’ to avoid the disapproval of their families. 

They learned each others habits more now than they had back in Africa when they were always half focused on their mission even when they were focused on each other. For example, from Uganda, Kevin knew Connor was an early riser but until living together, he had not been aware that Connor set Broadway songs as his alarm. If he had to hear Defying Gravity at 5 in the morning one more time, he may ask God to smite Connor just a teensy bit. Connor knew from their time on their mission that Kevin was not much of a night owl, but living together made it clear how precise this man’s nightly routine was. Dinner no later than 7:15, shower at 8, brush his teeth in nothing but a towel at 8:20 when he’d just gotten out of the shower and dried off enough not to drip obscenely on the floor, get into bed at 9, and be out like a light by 9:30 but still not wake up until 8 the next morning. This meant that anything embarrassing that Connor would like to do without fear of being caught and judged could easily happen within 10 and a half hours. 

One night at around 10 o'clock, when Kevin was peacefully lounging on their bed and would likely be too far gone to hear anything, Connor was pacing about the floor and rehearsing something to say. 

“Kevin, we’ve been together for some time-” he cut himself off with a frown, not liking how he phrased it. He shook his head as if to edit it in his mind. “Ok, uh.” 

He looked over to Kevin’s body, as if searching it for inspiration. He let out a breath through his nose, humming slightly as he thought. 

“I don’t know if it’s something you’ve thought about but um, I’ve thought about it. A lot. Recently. Also not so recently but mostly recently and I–am babbling.” He groaned and spun around, frustrated with his lack of ability to articulate just what he wanted to ask. 

“You could just…come right out and say it,” he suggested before immediately vetoing that idea with a prolonged “Nooo; it has to be planned and precise and perfect.” 

He cleared his throat and tried a different tactic. “Now that it’s legal-Ugh, this is too difficult!” 

Defeated by his own mind, Connor sank into a chair and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling, silently praying for a way to phrase the request that didn’t sound entirely inane.  

“Kevin Price, will you marry me?” He asked the ceiling, getting used to the phrase weighing on his tongue.   

The last thing he could ever expect was a response.  

“Yeah,” came a breathy voice from the other side of the room. Connor froze in absolute horror and turned to see the seemingly dormant body motionless on the mattress. 

“But - you’re supposed to - Why aren’t you asleep?” He blurted out before chastising himself under his breath that “No no no no no, this can not be happening.” 

Kevin sat up in the bed, peering through the darkness to find his boyfriend -now fiancé? Or did that proposal not count? 

“And miss the best proposal?”  

“Ha! That was nowhere near ready or the best. That was not planned or precise or perfect,” Connor explained in near hysterics over this, approaching the bed as if closeness would make Kevin understand the gravity of what he’d just ruined. “Don’t you see? You didn’t give me the time to make it right and-”

Kevin reached out and touched Connor’s cheek, shushing him as he did so. 

“It actually was perfect,” he assured Connor, who was still whispering his complaints about how the proposal was not anywhere near how it should have been. “It was perfect because it was you.” Kevin leaned across to close the gap between them, missing Connor’s mouth at first but sliding his lips across to meet with the elder Elder’s. 

Connor pulled away but this time he was silent on the topic of his botched proposal. Instead he cautiously asked, “Are…you always still awake this late?” 

Kevin gave him a thin-lipped smile and responded, “For your sake, I’ll say no.”


	4. Things You Said After It was Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kevin provides some comfort

Kevin woke to find Connor on his knees at the end of their bed, deep in prayer. He frowned and scooted across the mattress to see if Connor was alright. The last time he’d woken to find Connor in this state, it meant that he had had another Hell dream, and after a few blissful days of nor being tormented it had seemed even worse. Eventually, the gap between Hell dreams expanded as Connor became more comfortable with his identity. They would occur every now and again and he would remain on his knees for a solid ten minutes after Kevin found him before looking up, a little more at ease. Kevin had learned not to try to signal that he was awake by touching Connor’s shoulder because the last time he had tried that, Connor practically leaped out of his skin at the contact. 

When Connor had completed his repenting, Kevin softly greeted him. Connor nodded, forcing a smile as he rose to his feet. 

“Oh, good morning,” he returned in a tone far too chipper to be genuine. 

“You’re allowed to talk about the dreams with me, you know,” Kevin pointed out. He hated that Connor still insisted on a ‘turn it off’ philosophy though he had become much happier when he had begun letting himself feel things. 

Connor shook his head as though Kevin had just suggested that they commit highway robbery. 

 “You don’t need to wor-”

“-Ry about you? Connor, that’s sort of why I’m here,” Kevin teased, wrapping his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders. Connor snuggled into the grasp, secure in Kevin’s arms. Kevin slid his arm up to the back of Connor’s head to play with his hair, something that was nearly guaranteed to soothe him. Connor smiled blissfully, at peace and the dream fading from his mind. Maybe one day he actually would tell Kevin about them, but he didn’t want to sour this moment.


	5. "I think I'm in love with you and I'm terrified"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kevin realizes something about himself

Kevin Price had not technically lied when he said that he wasn’t having gay thoughts–the operative word being hav _ing_. He actually had gay thoughts when he was younger but he’d determined that as long as he didn’t actually _do_ anything, Heavenly Father couldn’t punish him. After all, he wasn’t actively sinning by having thoughts, even if they had been of that nature. And no matter what Elder McKinley said about how that tactic was lying, he was still going to use it.

That first night in Africa, he went to bed more confused than he had been before, not just about if he was really in the right place but also about Elder McKinley’s assumption that he was also having gay thoughts. Kevin knew that he couldn’t be distracted by this so he focused all of the energy that would have been spent on determining if Elder McKinley’s suspicion was correct onto his mission instead. He focused so much that anything that did not pertain directly to converting Ugandans to Latter Day Saints was put on a back burner so they were unnoticeable.  
The first time the intruding thoughts managed to weasel their way past his barrier was the night of his Hell Dream, causing even more confusion than before. He wasn’t gay so why was there so much homosexual activity in his dream? Featuring Elder McKinley no less! He hadn’t had any thoughts about him in that way (nor for Adolf Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer, or his father but he wasn’t going to have to face any of  _them_ as soon as he would Elder McKinley). Even when ignoring any thoughts that were not specifically related to conversions, he was sure to have noticed those kinds of inappropriate thoughts about the District leader drifting through his consciousness. He knew he had to suppress any thoughts about those thoughts or else he would lose focus on what he was supposed to be doing there in the first place, but now every time he looked at Elder McKinley, his stomach coiled with guilt and he could not get that horrifying mental image to disappear.

Kevin tried to focus on the needs of the Ugandans because that had distracted him from any unconventional and intimidating thoughts the last few days. However, it was not quite as effective as it had been the last time and he completely blamed the Hell Dream for putting the image of Elder McKinley orally pleasuring Hitler into his head in the first place. What made this time worse was that his mind constantly drew back to it whenever he lost the slightest bit of focus on the mission. Once they had been taken off the mission set forth by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints the only thing that could distract him from his surprisingly cruel and creative mind was setting to work on the Book of Arnold.

Though they were no longer required to stay in Uganda after the disastrous retelling of Joseph Smith, most of the Elders from District 9 did in order to bring the Word of Arnold to the civilians. A couple had gone back home to see if they could redeem themselves and perhaps get reinstated but for the most part the District 9 Elders had stayed together. They kept the same rooms in their living quarters as they had when they were still official Latter Day Saints, having grown used to and, in some cases, even attached to the arrangement.

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Arnold said one night as he crawled into bed. “Maybe we could add a couple new verses to the Book. Different from the old Book.”

Kevin mumbled an approval to his roommate. They had already changed enough about the original scripture that it couldn’t get much worse or more different than Harry Potter trying to show Jar Jar Binks that there really is a God by having God turn his tongue into a diseased penis.

“I mean, Elder McKinley’s a good guy. He shouldn’t have to go to Hell,” Arnold yawned, snuggling against his pillow. “And I don’t know what I’d do without my best friend.”

Kevin’s eyes shot open.

“Wait, what?”

Panicking, Arnold shouted out “UHHH…UHHH, GOODNIGHT!” and flipped over onto the mattress face-first to avoid having to talk about this.

Kevin sat up and stared at Arnold, waiting for him to divulge what he meant.

“No. You need to tell me,” he demanded. “Do the other Elders here think I’m gay?” Arnold did not respond, pretending to have fallen asleep in record time. “I know you’re awake.”

Remembering that Kevin always complained about his snoring, Arnold let out the biggest one he could as if it would convince his roommate that he was actually asleep.

Kevin sighed and flopped back down onto his mattress and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. He allowed a few seconds to fall between them, giving Arnold enough time to change his mind and be helpful. In those silent seconds, Kevin tensed with a new thought. Before Arnold could have helped, he spoke.

“Do they think that Elder McKinley and I are…you know?”

Arnold couldn’t help it; he giggled into his pillow, the sign Kevin had been waiting for that Arnold was truly awake.

“Ha! Tell me,” he pressed, now needing to know not just if the Elders thought he was gay or in some sort of a secret relationship with Elder McKinley but also what was so funny about the question.

“I’m sleep-laughing,” Arnold insisted. Kevin groaned and sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. If Arnold wasn’t going to help him, he was going to find someone who would. And he knew exactly who he needed to confront about this.

Kevin slowed to a halt by Elder McKinley’s door and peered into the room. The Elder was sitting on his bed in his pajamas and reading the Book of Arnold alone, which meant that his companion was probably somewhere else in the building searching for Pop-Tarts to have as a late-night snack. If they were low on that stock, then Kevin would have more time to talk this out.

“Um, Elder McKinley?”

Connor looked up at the sound of Kevin’s voice.

“Oh, hello Elder Price,” he greeted chirpily. His cheerful demeanor fell as he noticed that Kevin seemed conflicted. He crossed to the door, examined Kevin’s expression, let out an empathetic sigh and chided, “Now Elder Price, you remember what I told you? You need to turn _off_ whatever it is that’s bothering you. Then everything will be just fine.” He gently patted Kevin’s shoulder to show his encouragement.

“Yeah. Okay. I’ll try that,” Kevin grumbled and continued down the hall, clenching his teeth. That was less than helpful. He stopped on a dime and turned back around because he had come to Elder McKinley’s door with a purpose and he was not going to leave until he’d fulfilled it. He marched back to the doorway. Connor had already returned to the bed and had resumed studying the Book.

“Elder McKinley, I tried turning it off and it didn’t work. In fact, turning it off made it _worse_ ,” Kevin told him before the other Elder could offer his only piece of advice. Connor opened his mouth to make a suggestion but Kevin cut him off. “And I tried really hard so don’t tell me to just try harder.”

Connor frowned at his guest. The tactic he used was guaranteed to work nearly all of the time. In his knowledge, there was only one thing that could not be entirely turned off no matter how hard anyone tried. He raised his brows expectantly at Kevin, waiting for him to confirm what he thought. Now it was Kevin’s turn to avoid answering in spite of a slightly awkward silence blossoming between them.

“Well you must not have done it correctly,” Connor scolded, shaking his head. Of course he shouldn’t expect Kevin to come forward and _tell him_ that he was experiencing gay thoughts. “I’m sure we can come up with a solution. Sit. Elder Thomas will probably be occupied for a while. Elder Davis put the Pop-Tarts on the high shelf.”

Kevin laughed at the mental image and accepted the invitation into the room and took a seat on Elder Thomas’s bed beside Elder McKinley’s. He searched the room for a conversation that would not be about what he had tried and failed to turn off. His eyes fell on the Book of Arnold still in Connor’s hands and he nodded at it.

“We’re probably going to have to make a new version,” Kevin informed, causing Connor to furrow his brows.

“Really? Why?”

“Yeah. Arnold wants to add some new verses….about accepting homosexuality,” Kevin said with forced casualty.

Connor stiffened and his cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. He turned his focus to the wall above Kevin’s shoulder so as not to appear rude by turning away from him but to be sure that they would not make eye contact.

“He can’t do that!” he protested. “It’s one thing to…modernize scripture with all the pop culture references but to completely change the teachings altogether!”

“Some of the teachings are pretty outdated. Maybe it’s time for a change,” Kevin commented with a shrug. “Like the coffee thing,” he tacked on way too fast, still needing to affirm that he was not actually having gay thoughts. “And the gay thing for you. But mostly the coffee thing for me.”

“I am not gay, Elder Price,” Connor corrected him sharply. He softened and smiled at Kevin. This provided a better opportunity to ask about the veracity of the rumors around Kevin having gay thoughts recently. “Is that what you need help turning off? It gets a lot easier.” Connor reached over and squeezed his upper arm for reassurance.

“Oh, God. Does _everyone_ think I’m gay?” Kevin demanded in frustration. Having gay thoughts did not automatically mean that one was gay, even if the thoughts occurred every night and were rather graphic and were only ever for one singular individual.

_Oh no._

It was in that moment, noting how much he really had thought about Elder McKinley, that Kevin realized just how bad this was. It had, at some point since the Hell Dream, escalated from some petty school-boy crush on his friend to something much more palpable and much, much more sinful. 

Connor frowned, looking over at Kevin and noting his wide eyes beneath his furrowed brows, his tense shoulders, and his fists clenched on his lap.

“You look scared. After everything you’ve seen here, after what you’ve done here, what can possible scare you?” he asked with a genuine smile.

Kevin turned his head to look at him almost in disbelief. Of all the people here, he was the only other one who knew what this felt like, the sickness that accompanied knowing that this was supposed to be a good feeling–love was always a good feeling in every story and movie he had ever known–and instead he felt like he was disappointing everyone. Kevin felt like his innards had turned to venom and he was slowly burning inside his body.

“I think I’m in love with you and I’m terrified,” he blurted without his mouth having express permission to say that. The sudden awareness of what he had said struck him and he turned to look at Elder McKinley, unsure of what his reaction was going to be.

Seeing the wide-eyed Connor stared back at him, Kevin’s heart sank into his gut and his gut sank to the floor. Realizing that this was a big mistake, coming to see if he could let his feelings out, Kevin started towards the door. He’d crossed past Connor’s bed so he could not see that the shock on Connor’s face had given way to a relieved smile.

“Elder Price–”

“Forget it.”

“But Elder Price–”

“No.”

“Kevin.”

Elder McKinley had never called him by his first name before and the sound was oddly comforting. Kevin skidded to a halt in the doorway but he didn’t turn around to face the other Elder. He couldn’t. 

“I know what you’re going to say so I’m leaving,” he insisted.

“Then what am I going to say?” Elder McKinley prompted. His voice was much closer than Kevin expected and he jumped, startled. He should have heard him get up and cross the room to be just a few feet away. Kevin collected himself and cleared his throat, turning around.

He raised the pitch of his voice ever so slightly to mimic Elder McKinley’s voice. As he spoke, he waved his hands about, gesticulating in an overemphasized and flamboyant manner.

“Oh, Elder Price, it’s perfectly  _natural_ to have gay thoughts every once in a while but it needs to be turned off right away even though that hasn’t worked for me. _At. All._ ” Kevin dropped the overly cheerful act and turned to go once more but Elder McKinley, after recoiling from the verbal gut punch that Kevin had delivered, reached out to stop him. He couldn’t let Kevin leave angry like this.

Connor had intended to grab Kevin’s forearm but due to a slight misjudgment, he ended up wrapping his hand around Kevin’s. Kevin twisted around and before he could pull his hand from Elder McKinley’s grasp, Connor had taken his other one as well.

“What are you doing?” Kevin demanded, glancing out the door. With their luck, Elder Thomas would have reached and eaten the Poptarts by now and would be on his way back and, if he was, there was no way that Connor was going to say whatever was on the tip of his tongue.

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Connor told him.

“Then what were you going to say?” Kevin asked.

Connor smiled bashfully at Kevin and interlaced their fingers.

“That there really isn’t any reason to be scared.”


End file.
